Disruption Of attachment

Question 1

What can disrupt attachment ?

Answer 1

Separation or deprivation

Question 2

Define separation

Answer 2

Where a child is away from a caregiver they’re attached to such as a mother

• terms used when it’s a relatively short time just hours or days not a longer permanent separation *

Question 3

Define deprivation

Answer 3

Describes the loss of something that is wanted or needed

• eg. Maternal deprivation is the loss of the mother or other attachment figure , a more long term or even permanent loss is implied *

Question 4

What did John Bowlby argue ?

Answer 4

That long term deprivation from an attachment figure could be harmful

Question 5

What was John Bowlby maternal deprivation hypothesis ?

Answer 5

1) deprivation from the main carer during this critical period ( first 3 years ) will have harmful effects on a child’s emotional, social , intellectual and even physical development

2) long term effects of deprivation may include separation anxiety ( the fear of another separation from the carer )
- this may lead to problem behaviour eg. Being clingy and avoiding going school
- future relationships may be affected by this emotional insecurity

Question 6

Who conducted the 44 juvenile thieves study ?

Answer 6

Bowlby (1944)

Question 7

Describe the method for “ the 44 juvenile thieves “

Answer 7

• case studies were completed on the backgrounds of 44 adolescents who had been referred to the clinic where Bowlby worked as they’d been stealing
• there was a control group of 44 ‘ emotionally disturbed’ adolescents who didn’t steal

Question 8

Describe the results for “ the 44 juveniles”

Answer 8

• 17 of the thieves has experienced frequent separations from their mothers before the age of 2 compared with 2 in the control group
• 14 of the thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths
• 12 /14 had experienced separation from their mothers

Question 9

What was the conclusion of the 44 juvenile thieves ?

Answer 9

Deprivation of the child from its main carer early in life can have very harmful long term consequences

Question 10

What are some evaluation points of the 44 juvenile thieves study ?

Answer 10

• results indicate a link between deprivation and criminal behaviour
• cannot say that one causes the other
• other factors such as poverty can cause criminal behaviour
• study relied on retrospective data which may be unreliable

Question 11

What Case study was conducted in support of Bowlbys maternal deprivation hypothesis ?

Answer 11

Robertson and Robertson (1968) - a separation study

Question 12

Describe the method of the separation study

Answer 12

• in a naturalistic observation, several children who experienced short separations from their careers were observed and filmed
• eg. A boy called John aged around 18 months stayed in a residential nursery for nine days while his mother had another baby

Question 13

Describe the results of the separation study

Answer 13

• for the first day or two , John protested at being separated from his mother
• he then started trying to get attention from the nurses but they were busy with other children so he gave up trying
• after another few days he began to show signs of detachment - he was more active and content than he has been previously at the nursery

-when his mother came to collect him he was reluctant to be affectionate

Question 14

What was the conclusion of the separation study ?

Answer 14

The short term separation had very bad effects on John including possible permanent damage to his attachment with his mother

Question 15

What are some evaluation points on the separation study ?

Answer 15

• johns reaction might not have been due to separation - it could have been down to his new environment , or because he was receiving less attention than he was used too
• little control of variables thus it’s difficult to replicate each individual situation
• as the study took place in a natural setting the results will have ecological validity but will be less reliable

Question 16

What are strengths of bowlbys maternal deprivation hypothesis ?

Answer 16

Supporting evidence :

Goldfarb (1943) found that orphanage children who were socially and maternally deprived were later less intellectually and socially developed

Question 17

What are the weaknesses of bowlbys maternal deprivation theory

Answer 17

• Bowlby linked the thieves behaviour to maternal deprivation but other things were not considered
• eg. Whether the poverty they grew up in led them to steal
• the children in Goldfarb study may have been most harmed by the social deprivation in the orphanage rather than the maternal deprivation

Question 18

What was one of bowlbys main assumptions ?

Answer 18

That the consequences were not reversible

Question 19

Was his assumption correct ?

Answer 19

Further research has shown that even when deprivation has harmful effects these may be reversed with appropriate good quality care

Question 20

What did Skeels and Dye (1939) find ?

Answer 20

That children who had been socially deprived ( in an orphanage) during their first two years of life quickly improved their IQ scored if they were transferred to a school where they got one to one care

Question 21

Who conducted the case of the Czech twin boys

Answer 21

Koluchova (1976)

Question 22

What is the case of the Czech twin boys

Answer 22

• in this case the mother of the twin boys died soon after they were born
• their farther remarried and their stepmother treated them very cruelly
• they were often kept locked in a cellular had no toys and were often beaten
• they were found when they were seven with rickets and very little social or intellectual development
• they were later adopted and made much progress
• by adulthood they had above average intelligence and had normal social relationships